This invention relates to a multi-function remote control system for; television programming ordering, television receiver control, television recorder control, telephone network access control, control of off-premises recorded playback equipment, and improved speakerphone control.
There is a need for permitting television users the ability to order programming from their viewing chair using a wireless remote control.
There is a need for permitting television users the ability to control the recorded programming playback apparatus located at a central television control centre from their viewing chair using said wireless remote control device.
There is a need for said remote control to interface with both the telephone system and a plurality of television receiving and recording apparatus.
There is a need for said remote control to be inexpensive to purchase and replace.
It is the objects of prior art that relates to the wired or wireless connection of telephone apparatus and television delivery systems to permit; security from unauthorized reception of television signals, television usage data to be remotely accessed for billing purposes, television programming to be selected, and appliances such as television receiving apparatus to be remotely controlled. There is no prior art that integrates the use of a wireless, hand-held, control unit for the object of controlling both the telephone network and a fully functional user controlled television delivery system.
There is a need for television users to talk on the telephone from their viewing chair using a speakerphone type apparatus. There is a need for television users to control the telephone using the same remote control device as used by said user to control the user's television appliances. Previous speakerphone telephone terminal art did not foresee the need for the user of a speakerphone apparatus to remotely use a wireless transmitter to generate dialling signals, volume control signals, etc. There is a need to improve speakerphone features so that they are suitable for this purpose.
Well known art includes speakerphone systems, and wireless tone generators for the transmission of audible telephone multi-frequency dialling signals. The requirement to integrated the two and to add additional remotely controlled speakerphone functions has not been previously foreseen.
Examples of prior art that uses the public telephone system to permit; the user to order programming, the television system operator to secure the delivery system, the television operator to access usage information are respectively: Bradley, Stretten, Stretten, and Wentzel (U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,245), Abraham (U.S. Pat. No. 4,590,516), and Kauffman (U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,955).
Although prior art such as embodied by Wozniak et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,439) and Yasuola, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,766) permit a user to remotely control a television receiver and video recorder over the public telephone system using a wireless link between the telephone receiving and control unit and the appliance, both failed to foresee a need for the microprocessor control program contained in the telephone receiver control unit to be modified remotely by data received over the public telephone network for the purpose of providing the user with a simple method of adapting the control unit to interface with a new television receiving apparatus. Also neither Wozniak nor Yasuola foresaw the need for the wireless remote control of the telephone terminal apparatus.
Presently it is common in the art to incorporate within the hand-held, remote control apparatus the ability to permit the apparatus to interface with a plurality of different television apparatus. Such apparatus are known as `universal` type remote control apparatus. Said ability is provided by incorporating within said hand-held apparatus, a learning capability, or a large memory for the storage of a plurality of codes. Both of these methods use circuitry within said hand-held apparatus with either a relatively large memory or processing capability. Said universal remote controls are costly and potentially subject to technological obsolescence as they assume that future remote control apparatus will use currently known coding methods.
As hand-held units are subject to abuse and often require replacement there is a requirement for a lower cost universal type remote control apparatus.
Present applications of user controlled television programming order and delivery systems, often referred to as Television-on-Demand or Video-on-Demand, is high contention for the electronic delivery path bandwidth. Typically there is high demand for delivery circuit bandwidth during the evening peak viewing hours, the contention for a delivery path during early morning hours is considerably lower. A problem associated with the transmission of programming for recording during these low contention periods for viewing at a later date is that of ensuring that the user has advance warning of the exact delivery time and that the users recording apparatus is programmed to record at the scheduled time. Should the central control and video library distribution point have the ability to control the user's recording apparatus the down-loading process would be simplified to the point that all the user need be concerned about is the date of transmission and that the recording device has a suitable tape, or other recording medium, loaded in the recorder. There is a need for a central television delivery point to control recording apparatus remotely located at an end users residence.
A second need for central point control is in educational applications. Should the user be a student who is studying a television delivered lecture, the student may be asked to respond to a question using the hand-held wireless remote control; and depending upon the response received, the central control computer may wish to direct the student to re-review the programming previously delivered, or direct the student to skip ahead in the delivered lesson. The direction process would be automatic if the lesson was being delivered on a plurality of television channels with each channel carrying the programming offset in time, and if the central control point could transmit data over the telephone network connection that when received at the students premises would cause the television receiver tuner to automatically switch to the so directed television channel and lesson content.
There is a need for an apparatus located in the remote end users premises that could receive data from a central control computer and direct the associated television receiving apparatus to tune to the desired television channel.